


the truth is

by leeminhyoongi



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Best Friends, Drinking, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, M/M, Spin the Bottle, They're working men now, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 16:12:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13391460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leeminhyoongi/pseuds/leeminhyoongi
Summary: Jaehwan has decided that he hates the game Truth or Dare, until he learns the best truth and receives the best dare ever.





	the truth is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [euigeon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/euigeon/gifts).



> To my best friend, thank you so much for allowing me to drag you into this. You don't know how elated I have been ever since we agreed to write fics for each other. This is so late, but Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and I love you!

Hours before dinnertime, Seongwu had Daniel push his oak coffee table to the far end of the living room while he rolled his recently purchased hair-on-hide rug and tucked it underneath his couch. The both of them had even kept all of the action figures Seongwu had been collecting ever since his paycheck could afford the extra expenses along with the fancy picture frames and various ornaments his mother would bring over when she would visit every once in a while in a box under his bed. However, their efforts had been futile because even before their group of friends had finished their sixth bottle of wine that evening (shared only by four people because Minhyun and Jaehwan “do not drink alcohol”), Sungwoon had already managed to spill half a glass of red wine on one of the carpet’s corners and Jisung had still found a way to behead one of the Captain America figurines. How, Seongwu and Daniel honestly have no idea, but Seongwu is now adorably yelling about how he’s going to have to make his two oldest best friends party from the outside of his apartment next time.

“You’re beginning to sound like Minhyun hyung,” Daniel teases as he tries to piece Steve Rogers back together. His eyes crinkle and his laugh tinkles in the air at the pout Seongwu sends his way.

“Nah,” Jaehwan begins as he offers Daniel the tube of super glue he had found in one of the drawers in the kitchen. Everybody turns to look at Jaehwan because of the seriousness of his voice – they don’t get that a lot from him. “Minhyun hyung is _much_ worse.”

Daniel, Jisung, and Sungwoon all join Jaehwan as he laughs out loud at what he had just said, obviously not even the least bit bothered by Seongwu’s glare or Minhyun’s look of offense from where they’re kneeling by the rug, scrubbing the stubborn stain of the red wine away.

It has already been a couple of years since the youngest ones of the group had graduated from university, but Seongwu’s apartment still feels a lot like home to all of them. The wallpaper is clean and crisp now, the refrigerator is always restocked to the brim, and the furniture have been replaced with the kind that you have delivered to your place and assembled for you by stocky delivery men – no more of those do-it-yourself lot they sell at IKEA. These new installments don’t ever make any of the boys feel awkward or stuffy though, even if they all grew up with food and furniture that would have barely amounted to half as much as what the apartment is filled with now. Some of them would joke that it’s because of the assurance of good food and drink, but honestly, they would all agree that it’s because of the certainty of great company.

Sungwoon and Jisung finally decide to help in fixing up the mess they’ve made just as Jaehwan steps into the kitchen to toss the tube of super glue into the trash bin. It wasn’t much use, to be honest, so Daniel is just fiddling with Captain America’s head now and letting Sungwoon distract Seongwu from the casualty with his mindless chatter.

Jaehwan leans against the kitchen counter and pours himself a glass of the orange juice he grabbed from Seongwu’s refrigerator while he was at it. He watches his friends clean up and he thinks that no matter how rowdy they could all get sometimes, he really appreciates each one of them and the glory their company brings. He raises the plastic cup to his face to hide the smile of content splaying on his lips since he doesn’t want to give his friends another reason to think that he’s a lunatic.

It sometimes still baffles Jaehwan how they all became friends in the first place, considering that they each graduated from different majors at different times, and Daniel even spent about two years abroad to study. What Jaehwan finds even more surprising is how it has been almost ten years since they all started hanging out like this – eating and drinking in the living room of whoever’s place has been deemed clean enough to house a party of six that evening while laughing and talking about absolutely anything that came into their minds.

“What are you smiling about?” Minhyun asks as he suddenly pops into the same space Jaehwan is in. He walks straight to the sink to rid his pale hands of the pink stain from the red wine.

Jaehwan nearly chokes on his drink as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing, and when Minhyun points that out, Jaehwan waves him off with a chuckle and says he was just caught by surprise. “But, hyung,” Jaehwan begins as he spins around to watch Minhyun wring the cloth he and Seongwu had used to scrub the rug clean earlier. “Can you believe that we’ve all been friends for ten years? _Ten years_! How did we do it?” And as if on cue, Jisung yells as Daniel guffaws about another childish act the younger boy decided to play – for the third time that evening – making everybody else laugh out loud at their antics.

Minhyun shrugs, and then he chuckles, his shoulders moving up and down with every ring of his laughter. “You and I have been together a little longer than that. If I can put up with you, then we can all put up with each other.”

Jaehwan doesn’t process the slight insult to his being Minhyun had just jabbed at him as quickly as he should have because he really chokes on his drink this time. Minhyun quickly spins around to check on him, but Jaehwan insists that he’s fine. And he is, Jaehwan thinks, because choking on a drink is a natural occurrence, something that happens to everybody. It most definitely does not have anything to do with how the word _together_ that rolled off of Minhyun’s tongue just a few moments ago left a couple of butterflies in Jaehwan’s stomach.

As he tries to regain his composure, Jaehwan recalls the first time he met Minhyun. It had been in their high school’s music club. Jaehwan was a freshman while Minhyun was a year ahead of him. Despite the differences in their ages and year levels, Minhyun had befriended Jaehwan as if it were the most natural thing to do, and who was Jaehwan to refuse? Minhyun had always been very likeable – he’s always been attentive, gentle, kind, and his voice is the most beautiful Jaehwan has ever heard. Jaehwan actually spent many extra hours in the music room to listen to Minhyun sing more than to rehearse his own pieces, but nobody else needed – needs – to know that.

Not even – especially not – Minhyun. Even if he is Jaehwan’s best friend.

 

Sungwoon is beginning to get sleepy and Jisung is starting to talk too much, so Daniel suggests that they play a game. None of them want to go home yet anyway. Everybody is either too drunk or too tired to go look for a board or a card game around the apartment so Seongwu grabs one of their empty wine bottles from the side, plugs a balled up paper towel into its mouth to keep any more wine from spilling onto any of his other furnishings, and declares that they’re playing Truth or Dare tonight because they’re all boring and old anyway.

“Let’s make it Truth or Dare _and_ Spin the Bottle,” Jisung excitedly suggests, as if adding the second game will make that big of a difference. Being the oldest and the one who shouldered tonight’s entrée, the younger ones oblige without voicing out any of their teases.

Since it was his idea, Seongwu spins first. The bottle’s mouth lands on Sungwoon, but he’s already half asleep and barely aware of what’s happening around him. Jisung lightly hits him on the knee. “We’re choosing for you, dare, and we dare you to wake up and have fun with us. Why are you such a grandpa?”

The rest of the group chuckle at how Sungwoon merely shifts in his seat and mumbles about how his grandfather would probably be more energetic than he is now.

Daniel spins second and the bottle stops in front of Seongwu. Daniel suggestively wiggles his eyebrows at him, making the older laugh.

“Spin the bottle doesn’t work that way, kiddo. I have to kiss the one at the other end of the bottle,” Seongwu explains. He takes a gulp out of his wine before looking at who’s sitting across him. His eyes land on Jaehwan who’s already giggling and making kissy faces at him, and he gags while Daniel shoves Jaehwan away.

“Okay, choose something else.” So Seongwu chooses truth.

“Do you actually like any of the trinkets your mother put around your house?”

The group erupt into a hearty fit of laughter. Sungwoon is even wide awake by now and filling Seongwu’s apartment with his high-pitched laugh.

“The one she bought from the thrift store down the street is actually my favorite,” Seongwu jokes, making his friends double up in laughter at the mere thought of the décor in question. It looks extremely out of place in his posh apartment, but his mom would always look for it whenever she comes over so he has no choice but to keep it on display.

Once they have settled down, Sungwoon spins the bottle next and it lands on Jaehwan. Unabashedly, he picks dare.

Nobody says anything for a while. It’s a little difficult to think of something embarrassing or fun for Jaehwan to do, because, really, he has a long list of things he’s said and done that fit perfectly into either or both categories. It’s been too long for their liking so it’s the eldest who breaks the silence eventually.

“Kiss Minhyun,” Jisung says from where he’s sprawled on the floor. He’s picking at his cuticles, making it seem as if he had expected Jaehwan to choose dare and had the idea in his mind the entire time. Nobody bats an eye, it is sort of a given because Jisung likes kissing. Also, even if Jaehwan and Minhyun haven’t shown any other form of public display of affection aside from Jaehwan clinging to Minhyun whenever he feels like it, everybody expects them to have done a lot more, considering the amount of time they’ve known each other and been best friends.

They’re wrong though because as Jaehwan laughs manically and crawls over to where Minhyun is sitting, the latter points out that kissing is restricted to the Spin the Bottle option.

“Says who?”

Minhyun shrugs. “Those are the rules I remember.” He doesn’t say anything about not wanting to kiss Jaehwan, but the thought pops into the air around them. But before they get into an absolutely petty argument about the game and its rules, Jisung waves his hand and tells Jaehwan to kiss Minhyun on the cheek instead. Jisung and kissing, really.

Jaehwan looks unbothered. His lips are curved and the corners of his eyes crinkle as he grabs Minhyun by the neck and plants a sloppy kiss on the ball of his right cheek. Minhyun chuckles before he lightly pushes Jaehwan back to where he came from.

As Jaehwan plops back down onto his spot, Seongwu finds himself wondering if it’s just because he’s tipsy or if Jaehwan’s smile is really not as bright as it was before.

 

It’s Jaehwan’s spin a couple of rounds later that makes the bottle stop right in front of Minhyun. The opposite end is right in front of Jisung and he already has his lips puckered up for Minhyun, but the younger tosses a pillow at his face before he can get any closer. Yes, Jisung likes kisses, but Minhyun doesn’t seem like the type.

“Truth,” Minhyun chooses and he merely chuckles at Jisung’s look of disappointment.

Everybody is silent for the second time that night. There are actually a couple of things they all would like to know about Minhyun, but they aren’t sure of what and how to ask. They’ve been friends for so long already, but Minhyun has always been the most reserved among all of them. Sure, he dances and jokes around every once in a while and he enjoys heart to heart talks in the late nights or early mornings, but their friends still feel like there’s a side of Minhyun they haven’t excavated – even Jaehwan.

Sungwoon is picking the lint off of his shirt when he finally comes up with a question.

“Have you ever considered dating Jaehwan?” Sungwoon asks. Everybody else hums. They’ve always been curious. At some point they even assumed that they have actually been dating all this time, except neither Minhyun nor Jaehwan have changed their relationship statuses on Facebook to “Taken”. None of them have thought about asking or confirming so they guess it’s nice to have it finally brought up, they guess.

But again, they’re wrong.

Minhyun doesn’t even take a minute to think about what to answer. “No.” He shrugs. Then he reaches for the bottle and looks around, his eyes asking if anybody among them hasn’t had his turn at the game yet.

Seongwu is indeed drunk by now, as he has not allowed his lips to go a round without a sip of alcohol. But he swears that he’s conscious enough to note that Jaehwan isn’t smiling at all anymore – not even his eyes which always have some mirth in them.

Nobody says anything for a while, not even to answer Minhyun’s unspoken question of who gets to spin next. Everybody else is silently waiting for something, anything from either of them. But Minhyun doesn’t elaborate on his answer, and Jaehwan doesn’t joke or tease about it.

Seongwu clears his throat. “I want another drink,” he announces as he tries to stand up from where he’s been lying on the floor. He’s too dizzy to even get up on his feet and ends up falling on top of Daniel instead. Daniel wraps his arms around Seongwu’s middle.

Jaehwan, having been drinking only either orange juice or cider the entire time, gets up from his seat with ease. “I’ll go grab some, who wants?”

 

There’s a queasy feeling in his stomach that Jaehwan blames on the alcohol as he makes his way back into the kitchen. He tinkers with the bottles on the counter and those inside the fridge and picks out which drinks he thinks his friends would appreciate the most. Only then does he realize he actually hasn’t been drinking any alcohol the entire time, so he blames the unsettling feeling on his stupid decision of alternating orange juice and cider throughout the night instead.

“But I’m not stupid,” Jaehwan says to himself as he tries to grip six bottles of liquor at once. “It wasn’t even my idea to drink both orange juice and soda, it was Minhyun hyung’s.”

Jaehwan continues to grumble about how Minhyun had suggested that Jaehwan should lay off the liquor tonight even before they started eating dinner because “You don’t take alcohol in very well, Jaehwan-ah.”

Jaehwan chuckled. “What are you saying, hyung, that’s you!” But he followed anyway. He always does.

“I’m not stupid. Minhyun hyung is the stupid one,” Jaehwan concludes. He stops forcing his fingers (no matter how long they may be because of all the guitar and piano playing he’s been doing over the years) to hold onto way too many bottles of alcohol at once and opts to open the one that contains the liquid that most looks like water instead.

Jaehwan doesn’t know what made him do it and neither does he know what’s keeping him from stopping. The minute the water-like liquid (actually _vodka_ ) hits the back of Jaehwan’s throat, it burns, and then everything else burns as well. He could have and should have put the bottle down as soon as it had his entire digestive system feeling like it was on fire, but Jaehwan is Not Stupid (honestly, _very stupid_ ) and ends up downing the entire bottle.

It must be the ringing in his ears and the pounding in his head that make Jaehwan miss the sound of Daniel bouncing into the kitchen to check on him. Apparently, Jisung and Sungwoon have both played their turns already, and Seongwu has gotten grumbly because he hasn’t had even a sip of liquor either round.

“Dude, are you stealing some of Seongwu’s Belgian chocolates again?” Daniel asks just as Jaehwan gulps down the last of the vodka. Daniel steps right in front of Jaehwan and watches as he shudders from the warmth of the alcohol as it courses through his veins and throughout his entire system. Daniel’s mouth hangs open as he grabs the now empty bottle of vodka from Jahewan’s grasp (to inspect its total alcohol content and to prevent it from dropping to the floor and breaking into pieces). “Jaehwan, what the fuck!”

It’s more of an exclamation rather than a question but Jaehwan opens and closes his mouth a couple of times which makes him look like a fish fresh out of water. Daniel looks on and expects a coherent answer, but all he gets is the loud sound of Jaehwan’s comical laughter ringing loudly throughout Seongwu’s apartment instead. “Dude, dude.” Daniel walks closer to Jaehwan. He puts the bottle of vodka down on the kitchen counter before resting both of his hands on Jaehwan’s shoulders. “Oh my god, why’d you do that? Are you out of your mind?”

It’s as if every time Daniel speaks to Jaehwan, Jaehwan’s laughter only gets much louder, which is a lot to say because he doesn’t seem to know what 50 decibels sounds like on a normal occasion. The steady beating of his head makes it difficult for his brain to tell his mouth to stop laughing. Daniel doesn’t know what to do, so he just keeps trying to calm Jaehwan down and trying to make him shut up by rubbing his hands on Jaehwan’s arms repeatedly, but all his attempts are unsuccessful. Daniel wants to call for help. Over the sound of Jaehwan’s continuous laughter, he hears abrupt footsteps coming towards them. He lets out a sigh of relief when he sees that it’s Minhyun followed by Seongwu, concern and curiosity etched on their foreheads. Jaehwan is still laughing.

“What’s going on?” Minhyun asks as he walks over to where Daniel and Jaehwan are and replaces the former’s hands with his own. “Why are you so loud, Jaehwan-ah, it’s two in the morning.”

Jaehwan’s laughter thankfully reduces to chuckles and he smiles up at Minhyun who only looks at him expectantly. He wants to say something to Minhyun, tell him that he’s the stupid one, but no words come out of his mouth. Daniel takes a couple of steps backwards and lets Minhyun handle the situation. He’s stopped from moving any further by a force from behind, and when he spins around, he sees Seongwu holding up the bottle of vodka. Jaehwan smiles brightly at the bottle.

There’s absolutely no trace of alcohol in his body as Seongwu exclaims, “Well, fuck.”

The sound of Seongwu’s voice makes Minhyun’s head snap in his direction. His eyes evidently widen at the empty bottle of vodka. Even if he doesn’t drink, he’s been to enough parties to know what a bottle of vodka looks like and to know how much alcohol it contains.

“That wasn’t full right? It’s been opened and drunken from?”

Seongwu then picks up a coil of plastic from the counter – the one that had been wound around the bottle’s cap before it was ripped off and opened. Jaehwan smiles at that too. Seongwu raises it so it’s within Minhyun’s line of vision. “No.”

If Minhyun curses (on a regular basis, because he’s been caught swearing by his friends a number of times before), he would have probably cursed by now. Nobody downs an entire bottle of vodka within a couple of minutes and survives from it – especially not Jaehwan who is “bad at taking in alcohol”. Minhyun breathes in sharply as he spins back to look at Jaehwan. The creases on his forehead deepen as his eyes go over Jaehwan’s body, seemingly looking for any signs of damage. “Are you hurt?” But Jaehwan only enters a fit of giggles, making Minhyun sigh.

“I think he is,” Seongwu answers, making both Minhyun and Daniel look at him. His face is unreadable, it’s as if he’s joking but also serious. Minhyun cocks an eyebrow questioningly at him while Daniel reaches for Seongwu’s hand to give him a small pinch. Jaehwan doesn’t say anything because the unsettling feeling in his stomach isn’t noticeable anymore and the buzzing in between his ears isn’t uncomfortable. He isn’t in pain, what is Seongwu talking about?

“I don’t think so?” Daniel supplies as he lays comforting hand on Seongwu’s shoulder as the older jumps in pain from his sudden pinch. “When I came in, he just swallowed the last drop.”

If Minhyun had found Daniel and Seongwu acting oddly at that moment, he doesn’t say anything about it and nods in understanding instead. He turns to Jaehwan who is still giggling.

“He’s also only been laughing the whole time. If we don’t know any better, we’d probably think he’s crazy.” Jaehwan pouts at Daniel which the younger boy only laughs at.

“He drank an entire bottle of vodka in a matter of minutes all by himself,” Seongwu points out. “I think it’s alright for us to think so.” The second half of his sentence fades under the pointed look Minhyun gives him, and to make it up to his friends, he offers that Minhyun and Jaehwan should crash at the guest bedroom tonight. “Jisung hyung and Sungwoon hyung are already fast asleep in the living room anyway, so you guys can take the spare room. Then it’d be just like the old times!”

Minhyun considers the invitation for a moment, until Jaehwan begins to mumble. The other three turn to look at him and it’s Minhyun who encourages him to speak clearly.

“We’d… listen… Daniel… touch… me…” Jaehwan mutters in between chuckles. The glaze in his eyes have turned to glitters, making him look a little more alert than he had been a few moments ago, but what he just said is far from coherence.

“What?” Seongwu asks, obviously alarmed at Jaehwan’s choice of words.

Jaehwan takes a deep breath and holds it in for a couple of seconds in hopes that it could help him stop laughing so much. “Sleeping over would mean that,” he giggles quickly. “We’d hear you and Daniel being all naughty in the other room,” he continues before entering another bout of chuckles. His face is contorted into a look of disgust but he’s laughing so much that his friends aren’t sure if he’s against or for the idea of Seongwu and Daniel being all touchy-feely.

Daniel chuckles before pulling Seongwu closer to his side, making sure to settle his chin in the space between Seongwu’s neck and shoulder to tease Jaehwan even more. “Well, we can promise to try to keep quiet.”

Jaehwan’s frown deepens but his laughter intensifies. Minhyun clears his throat. “Yeah, uh, no. It seems like Jaehwan’s not that wasted anymore anyway so, uh, I think we’ll manage to get home safely.”

Seongwu lightly pushes Daniel away and insists his friends spend the night, it’s not like they haven’t done it so many times before. But Minhyun shakes his head and asks for a bottle he can fill up with water to bring with them on their ride home instead. “Thanks, but we’ll be fine, really. I’ve brought him home drunk once, so it’s nothing entirely new to me.”

Jaehwan nods and beams at Seongwu.

Seongwu looks apprehensive even after he’s given Minhyun a jug of water from the fridge and he and Daniel have walked Minhyun and Jaehwan to the door, but he doesn’t push any further because he knows Minhyun wouldn’t budge. Maybe the quality time will be good for the both of them too, Seongwu thinks.

Jaehwan fumbles with his laces so Minhyun helps him into his shoes before slipping into his own pair. Jaehwan smiles but then almost immediately, it’s replaced by a frown.

“Just let them know when they wake up, okay? We’ll text when we get home,” Minhyun says after he gives his friends in the living room a quick glance.

Seongwu nods and Daniel wishes them a safe ride home. Jaehwan excitedly gives them a two thumbs up.

 

Jaehwan isn’t laughing as much as he was earlier anymore, but he still has a goofy smile on his lips and short chuckles bubbling out of his chest. He sways a bit when he walks to the car that Minhyun has to help him get into the passenger seat and put on his seatbelt. Minhyun hands Jaehwan the bottle of water he borrowed from Seongwu. “Bottoms up,” Minhyun jokes.

Jaehwan giggles as he raises the bottle in the air before tipping it back to pour the cold water into his lips. He feels the car dip a bit as Minhyun slides into the driver’s seat. He gives Jaehwan another look to make sure he’s settled in nicely before he starts the engine and drives out of the parking lot.

Minhyun reminds Jaehwan to sip on the water every couple of meters. “You need to get the alcohol out of your system,” Minhyun explains when Jaehwan adorably complains about the amount of water he’s being asked to drink. Even if he’s intoxicated, Jaehwan does as Minhyun asks him to, and Jaehwan finds himself briefly wondering why.

A few minutes after they passed a gasoline station, Jaehwan announces that he needs to pee. Minhyun turns to look at him disbelievingly. “Now? Really? We just passed a stop!”

“But I didn’t need to pee then,” Jaehwan counters. He doesn’t look or sound sorry, he’s even smiling, but Minhyun is already maneuvering back to the gasoline station they saw earlier.

It takes an entire minute for Jaehwan to get himself out of his seat, a couple more for him to walk towards the restroom, and forever for him to get out. He has been thinking to himself the entire time, not even realizing that he’s already stopped peeing a while back. Jaehwan rushes back to the car. He feels a lot better but the woozy feeling is back in his stomach as soon as he sees Minhyun patiently waiting in the car.

“Finally,” Minhyun jokes as Jaehwan buckles himself back into his seat. Jaehwan only chuckles shortly in reply, and if it sounded awkward or forced to Minhyun, he doesn’t say anything about it.

They drive in silence for a few minutes. Minhyun steals glances at him every now and then but he doesn’t say anything, so Jaehwan doesn’t say anything either and scratches the knees of his jeans absentmindedly. Neither of them are used to driving in silence – neither of them are used to silence, in general. Anybody who knows Jaehwan shouldn’t be used to the quiet in the first place.

But the silence allows Jaehwan to think to himself more, and he ponders about why he drank that entire bottle of vodka, why Minhyun saying he hasn’t ever thought of dating Jaehwan hurt him, why Minhyun pushing him away after he kissed him on the cheek disappointed him, why the queasy feeling in his stomach hasn’t gone away. There’s an answer to all of those questions flashing in the back of Jaehwan’s mind. It’s like a neon sign in the middle of the night. It’s annoying and almost blinding, but Jaehwan tries his best to ignore it.

He clears his throat just as Minhyun eases the car to a stop at a red light. “U-uh, M-minhyun hyung. I’m s-sorry.”

Minhyun turns to look at Jaehwan, and the younger boy hates how the bright street lights perfectly illuminate the slope of Minhyun’s nose, the slide of his jaw, and the roundness of his cheeks. “What for?”

“I’m always giving you problems.”

“No you aren’t.”

Jaehwan sighs and leans his head on the car window. The cool night air from outside and the cold air conditioning from the car make it chilly against the warmth of his cheeks, but it doesn’t seem to take any of the redness away. “I am. I could list down at least five times I’ve been a pain in your ass, not even including tonight.”

The stoplight still has about a minute left until it turns green, and Minhyun is giving Jaehwan a look that he takes as a challenge, so he continues. “Just last week, I asked you to fetch me since I missed my bus which in turn made you miss your meeting.”

“I advised them for a reschedule, it was fine.”

“And was it two months ago that I forgot to clean the cake crumbs from your carpet before you left for the weekend so when you came home, there were ants everywhere?”

“The carpet was scheduled for cleaning anyway.”

“There’s the first time you brought me home because I was too drunk to function! I puked all over your car and didn’t pay you back for what you spent on cleaning because I was a poor college student then!”

Minhyun just chuckles at this one. Jaehwan quickly glances at him but the way Minhyun’s chest and shoulders bounce with his laughter does nothing to appease Jaehwan’s discomfort.

“But I’m working now. I have been working. I should pay you back for that.”

Minhyun shifts gears and resumes driving down the road. “Don’t worry about it.”

Jaehwan runs a frustrated hand through his hair as he fully turns to look at Minhyun now. “Stop! You’re so kind, you’re too nice! Why are you like this? If this is your way of apologizing for borrowing my lunch money a lot of times back in high school, stop, you already paid those back anyway. Just, stop. Okay. It’s annoying and confusing and so fucking frustrating!”

Minhyun slows down a bit as he comes across a road hump and he uses the opportunity to glance at Jaehwan. There it is again, Hwang Minhyun’s attentiveness, gentleness, and kindness flowing out of his gaze all at once and it makes Jaehwan weak in the knees. “What are you talking about?” Jaehwan’s sudden outburst surprised him, but he’s willing to wait for an explanation.

Jaehwan’s throat has gone dry and his cheeks have turned an embarrassing shade of red. He wants Minhyun to understand what he’s feeling and saying and thinking of, he is his best friend after all. But what happened tonight was enough to make Jaehwan realize that Minhyun will not comprehend and will not reciprocate his feelings. “Nothing, nevermind, let’s just go home,” Jaehwan says resignedly as he leans back into his chair and looks out the window.

It’s been over ten years since Jaehwan’s crush on Minhyun began, it’s been over ten years since Jaehwan’s feelings for Minhyun bloomed, it’s been over ten years but nothing has happened between them. Jaehwan knows it’s partially his fault – he could have admitted his crush on Minhyun, he could have told him about his feelings, but he was too much of a coward to sacrifice their great friendship for a love that could very well be one-sided. It’s been over ten years of being _just_ best friends with Minhyun, and Jaehwan quietly decides he could spend another decade remaining that way. He’ll find somebody else, Minhyun will too, and then everything will be okay. Eventually.

Jaehwan has been busy with his own thoughts that he doesn’t hear the first half of Minhyun’s sentence.

“—truth or dare?”

Jaehwan’s ears perk at the phrase. He kind of wants to take the words and bury it six feet underground. He’s going to tell Seongwu to never suggest to play Truth or Dare ever again, there are a lot of other games boring and old people could play instead anyway. Jaehwan’s eyes don’t leave the passing scenery outside his window (even if his brain isn’t processing anything in view) as he hums in acknowledgement.

“Do you want to play truth or dare?”

Absentmindedly, Jaehwan hums in agreement to that too.

“Okay, you first.”

“Truth.” There is absolutely no way Jaehwan is ever choosing dare again. He has a long list of humiliating things he’s said and done already, there’s no need to add any more to it. He also has no plans of creating a new list of painful things he’s acquired after picking dare. The single entry on that list that happened tonight is enough to leave a heavy burden on his body.

Jaehwan’s thoughts are once again cut by Minhyun’s voice. It’s one of Jaehwan’s favorite sounds so there is an almost non-existent chance his ears won’t pick it up.

“Do you like me?”

Jaehwan chokes on air. If this was the type of questions Minhyun would be asking him, Jaehwan decides that dare doesn’t sound like such a bad option after all. “Wh-what?” He asks as his head hastily snaps to Minhyun’s direction, he should be thankful he didn’t get whiplash.

Minhyun’s a seasoned driver. He aced his driver’s license exams and even volunteered to instruct at the local driving school one summer, so sparing Jaehwan a glance as they drive through an empty and paved road should have been easy for him. But he keeps his eyes straight ahead even if Jaehwan is gaping at him from the side.

“What?” Jaehwan asks again.

“I know you heard me the first time. So just answer the question, Jaehwan-ah.”

Jaehwan continues to stare at Minhyun disbelievingly. His cheeks are getting warmer with each passing second that he wouldn’t be surprised if they’re a burning shade of red by now. He opens his mouth but gets stuck on trying to think of an answer to Minhyun’s question, so he closes it again. This goes on for a while. How long, Jaehwan doesn’t really know, but it must have been quite a wait for Minhyun (who is the epitome of patience) because he’s speaking again.

“I’m sorry if how I’m acting is annoying you,” Minhyun begins. His eyes are still on the road ahead but his voice is loud enough that it makes Jaehwan shut his mouth completely and watch Minhyun intently instead. “I guess I’m kind because I was brought up that way, but I’m also extra nicer to you because you’re my friend. My best friend. Of almost fifteen years. I don’t think I should be anything but good to you.” Minhyun takes a deep breath before continuing. “I’m also sorry that it has come to this. I didn’t mean to confuse you. If anything, I wanted to tell you straight up that I like you. A lot. It’s just that I’ve never dated before so I don’t know how anything works. And you’re my best friend, I thought you would’ve guessed by now.”

What.

“I don’t know if you remember, but I once said I’d take a bullet for you.”

Minhyun still isn’t looking at Jaehwan, but the younger nods nonetheless. He does remember. It had been at a party held by one of Minhyun’s classmates in university. Jaehwan was still a senior in high school then, but he and Daniel tagged along with Minhyun and Seongwu to “have a taste of what college parties are like”. “Yeah, but you were drunk then,” Jaehwan says quietly.

They ease into a stop at another red light and only then does Minhyun look at Jaehwan. He angles his body so that his chest is facing Jaehwan too. Jaehwan knows that Minhyun is being serious now and he doesn’t think he can handle it. But there’s still a touch of tenderness under the intensity of Minhyun’s gaze so Jaehwan looks back right into his eyes.

“I’m not drunk now so I’ll say it again. I’d take a bullet for you. I’d do it because I like you. So much.”

_What._

Jaehwan is at a loss for words. He can’t believe what he had just heard, what had just come out of Minhyun’s mouth. Minhyun is about to talk again, probably to repeat what he had said, but Jaehwan beats him to it.

“B-but you said y-you’ve never considered dating me.”

Minhyun lets out a chuckle. “I know, I did, and I really haven’t.”

Jaehwan cocks an eyebrow because for the third time, _what_. Minhyun had just apologized for being annoying and confusing but here he is again being the perfect mix of both.

“Dating. It kind of feels superficial and temporary to me,” Minhyun hastily explains. “I don’t see the point of dating you because, well, haven’t we practically been doing that since high school? I mean, we’ve never been apart ever since, even if I moved to university before you did. And you know me more than you know yourself. Same for me.”

Jaehwan still does not know what to say so he just nods. Minhyun looks slightly disappointed Jaehwan doesn’t say anything, but he lets it go. He turns back to the road to catch the green light just in time and he resumes driving.

“I admit I said no. I’m not going to lie about that. But the question wasn’t ‘have you ever considered that you’re in love with Jaehwan’.”

One more time, _what_.

“Because if that was the question then I would have automatically said yes.”

Minhyun stops the car, and Jaehwan quickly glances outside to see that they’ve already reached his apartment building. Jaehwan’s heart beats a little faster. He doesn’t want to get out yet, not after Minhyun had just confessed to him – three times. Not when all Jaehwan wants to do is hear Minhyun confess to him again and again.

Minhyun’s looking at him again, and it’s a look that says Jaehwan has to say something or else Minhyun is going to lose it.

There’s a bubble in Jaehwan’s throat that’s threatening to burst out of his lips as peals of laughter, but Jaehwan forces it back down his stomach where it flutters like butterflies instead. Jaehwan clears his throat. “O-okay.” He knows it’s not the smartest choice for an answer, but he really has no idea what to say now. He thinks it’s alright though, because Minhyun will understand. Minhyun always understands. “U-uh, your t-turn? Truth or dare?”

Minhyun looks surprised for a split second, not even bothering to hide the fact that this was not the response he was expecting or hoping for. He chuckles and runs a hand through his hair. “Dare.”

Jaehwan bites his lower lip. Minhyun has always had nice hair, and Jaehwan has always wondered what it would be like to run his fingers through it. Jaehwan takes a deep breath. “I dare you to kiss me.”

And Minhyun does.

It’s an awkward meet in the middle, their lips not quite touching completely. But without even breaking apart, Jaehwan laughs and Minhyun smiles and then everything is perfect.

When they do pull away from each other, Minhyun rests his forehead against Jaehwan’s own and puts a hand on his knee. “No more confusion. The truth is, Kim Jaehwan, I love you.”

Jaehwan smiles up at Minhyun. “The truth is, Hwang Minhyun, I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Reena hops on the Minhwan tag!
> 
> My Twitter is @[park__lee](https://twitter.com/park__lee) if you guys want to see me talk about my love for the boys of 1999.


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